Mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamines are compounds having high commercial demand and useful as intermediate materials in general organic synthesis, such as medical and agrochemical intermediates and intermediates of cationic flocculants, etching solutions for resins, softeners for synthetic fibers, corrosion inhibitors, neutralizers for petroleum refining and petroleum processing, and dispersants.
Production of a mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamine by a reaction of a mono-lower-alkylamine with an alkylene oxide has already been reported in literatures (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
In the reaction of a mono-lower-alkylamine with an alkylene oxide, a mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamine and a mono-lower-alkyl dialkanolamine are produced simultaneously. To selectively obtain the mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamine in this reaction, a significantly excessive amount of mono-lower-alkylamine used must be used when compared with the amount of alkylene oxide used. Therefore, with this reaction, a large amount of mono-lower-alkylamine remains unreacted.
As a method for producing a mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamine by a reaction of a mono-lower-alkylamine with an alkylene oxide, a zeolite catalyst method that uses zeolite as a catalyst is proposed (Patent Document 1).
Conversely, as a method that does not use the zeolite catalyst, for example, a production method performed under supercritical conditions (temperature condition: 100 to 200° C., pressure condition: 17 to 24 MPa) is proposed (Patent Document 2).
As a method for producing a mono-lower-alkyl monoalkanolamine by a reaction of a mono-lower-alkylamine with an alkylene oxide, a production method in which the reaction is performed in the presence of water is well known (this production method is referred to as a water catalyst method).    Non-Patent Document 1: Ryohei Oda and Kazuhiro Teramura, “Surfactant,” Maki Shoten, 1965, p. 262 to 263.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-275933    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-13751